Neoclassical Brass Coffee Table with Green Marble Top by Raymond Subes, French Work, Circa 1940

This elegant coffee table in polished brass, surmounted by a top of rich green marble, is a characteristic work by Raymond Subes (1893–1970), one of the most distinguished figures in French decorative metalwork of the twentieth century. The table is conceived in the Neoclassical manner, with a refined architectural structure that reflects Subes's mastery of the historical tradition and his incomparable precision of execution. The contrast between the warm golden lustre of the brass and the cool, veined depth of the green marble creates a chromatic dialogue of great sophistication.

Raymond Subes trained at the École Boulle in Paris, where he developed the technical mastery that would define his entire career. He subsequently became head of the metalwork workshops at the prestigious firm of Borderel et Robert, producing some of the most celebrated decorative ironwork and metalwork of the interwar period — commissions for luxury ocean liners, grand public buildings and the finest private residences in France and abroad. Unlike many contemporaries who worked primarily in wrought iron, Subes was equally accomplished in brass, bronze and other non-ferrous metals, creating objects of extraordinary technical refinement. He exhibited at the Paris Expositions Universelles of 1925 and 1937, where his work won the highest accolades.

This coffee table is an object of exceptional rarity and distinction, representing Subes at his most refined and intimate. Its combination of polished brass and green marble brings a note of antique luxury to any interior, from the grandly classical to the discreetly modernist. A centrepiece for a salon or library of the highest order, and a testament to the extraordinary level of craftsmanship practised by French metalworkers at the height of their art.